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National Register

National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Program

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

The Port Morris Ferry Bridges in the Port Morris section of the South Bronx are a significant pair of maritime structures symbolizing the rich nautical heritage of New York City. Nearly five stories in height, they stand tall on the shoreline, one of the few remaining waterfront symbols that allow us to reflect on the legacy of New York's nineteenth- and twentieth-century waterway system and its crucial role in the city's modes of transportation and industrial activity. The ferry bridges are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under criteria A, for their significance in the history of ferryboats and passenger waterway transportation in New York City. They are also eligible under criteria C for their distinctive industrial design, emblematic of mid-twentieth century ferry bridges (of which there are few remaining examples in New York City), and in particular their method of construction and reflection of the type of ferry bridges of this period, which were larger in scale and necessitated by the widespread use of the automobile in New York City.

Properties are listed in the National Register of Historic Places under four criteria: A, B, C, and D. For information on what these criterion are and how they are applied, please see our Bulletin on How to Apply the National Register Criteria